Clean Credit Report
By Jayme Hanson
If you don't have a clean credit report, you could be among the 25 percent of U.S. consumers who will be denied credit this year due to inaccurate information in the credit report. If you have errors or inaccurate information on your credit report they could affect your finances for years to come. There are things you can do to have a clean credit report so you can apply for credit successfully.
If you have applied for credit recently and been turned down, stop applying for credit cards and loans. If one company has rejected your application than it stands to reason that other companies will also turn you down. Each time you submit a credit application, it appears on your credit report and too many declined applications can look negative because lenders consider the number of credit applications you have submitted as an indicator of how much credit you're trying to obtain.
To make sure you have a clean credit report
, order a report from each of the most popular credit reporting agencies, Equifax,
TransUnion and Experian. Consumers are entitled to a free credit report for each of these companies once a calendar year.
Because most items stay on your credit report for 7 years (or 10 years if you've filed a bankruptcy), you will want to get a copy of your credit report at least once a year. Your credit report can contain old or duplicated information or a number of other errors. It is your responsibility to make sure you have a clean credit report
.
If you do find an error on your credit report, contact the reporting agency immediately. You will want to identify the item in dispute, give a detailed explanation of the dispute and provide any documentation, such as a cancelled check showing payment.
Making sure you have a clean credit report
can take time and might be frustrating is you should find an error that doesn't belong on your report, but in the end a clean credit report will benefit you financially so the time you spend checking your report will definitely pay off.
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